


New Wands - Albus

by torestoreamends



Series: Second Wands [1]
Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Gen, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Spoilers, Post-Canon, Pre-Slash, Wand Headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 02:41:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7995628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torestoreamends/pseuds/torestoreamends
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry insists on taking Albus to get his second wand, after his first was snapped during the encounter with Delphi. It doesn’t go as badly as it might have done before Godric’s Hollow…</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Wands - Albus

**Author's Note:**

> This came about because I spent ages on carefully crafted wand headcanons for the boys, then realised Delphi destroys those wands, so I had to have a second go. I almost enjoyed it more the second time!
> 
> Beta'd by brief_and_dreamy.

Harry takes Albus to get his second wand. He insists on it, and even though Albus quietly tells him he doesn't need to, he says he wants to be there. 

They Apparate from Hogwarts to Diagon Alley one wet Saturday in early November, and have to push their way through the mass of umbrellas which fill the street. It's the first time Albus has been away from Hogwarts since everything happened, and it's a bizarre experience, because for the first time ever people are staring at him as much as Harry, and he gets one or two pats on the back. 

"Keep your head down and look busy," Harry advises quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Albus glances up at him. "You mean I shouldn't sign autographs for them like you do?"

"I do not-" Harry huffs. "Sometimes it's the easiest way to get rid of them..."

They fall into an awkward silence. Things are better between them but not perfect. They still haven't really talked. It felt too hard, too complicated. Especially after everything. They needed time to recover. 

"Why are you here, Dad?" Albus asks as they walk up the street. 

"Because," Harry says. "I haven't been here enough, and this is important for you."

"Is it? It's just a wand. You didn't have to take time off work." 

Harry pulls him to a stop, and Albus sullenly turns to face him. "Look," Harry says, voice low, just about containing frustration. "I am trying here. I don't know exactly what you want from me yet but... Isn't this a start? Can we work together on this? Be a team? In Godric's Hollow we were..." Harry trails off, and there's something a bit lost and sad in his eyes.

Albus glances away. He'd stood next to his dad and faced down Delphi. He'd brought the others out so they could beat her back. His dad had crouched in front of him, protecting him when the fight got too furious to be part of anymore. They  _had_  been a team, and it had felt really good.

"Okay," he says quietly. "I-I'm sorry." 

Harry adjusts his cuffs and looks at Albus for a moment. "I was thinking maybe... Maybe when we're done we can go to that cake shop, if you want. You know the good one, up the street?"

Albus looks up at him in amazement. "The one mum never lets us go in?"

Harry grins and nods. "What she doesn't know can't hurt her. It can be our little secret, yeah?"

Albus thinks for a second, then smiles too. "Alright. But first I need my wand. I can't use this one anymore. I don't think it likes me."

"Wands are a bit fickle like that," Harry says, hand going back to Albus's shoulder. "But that's why we have Mr Ollivander. If there's anyone who can possibly understand them, it's him."

They enter the shop. Rain patters softly on the windows behind them, and Albus walks calmly up to the counter. Last time he was here he felt very small and very scared. This time... He has a good feeling about this time. 

It takes a minute, but eventually Mr Ollivander emerges from between the shelves. Albus doesn't jump, doesn't even flinch, he just looks up at the wand maker. 

"Young Mr Potter," Mr Ollivander says. "I had not entirely expected to see you here again so soon." 

"Voldemort's daughter snapped my wand," Albus says. "I wish it hadn't been broken but... Now I think I need a new one. Please." 

Mr Ollivander peers at him. "I had heard about that incident. It's a great shame. Had your wand survived the encounter intact I have no doubt you would have gone on to do great things together. Sadly, sometimes fate is not so kind." 

Albus nods and looks down at his hands. "Mr Ollivander, are you allowed to look for a certain sort of wand? Does it work that way? Or do I just have to wait and see what likes me?" 

The wand maker frowns at him, curious, and perhaps a little surprised. "Sometimes it can be a useful starting point. What is your request?" 

"I-I want a wand I can fight with. There are only two things I'm good at. Potions, and... And Defence Against the Dark Arts. So... Well I'd like to be able to duel. If that's okay." He tries, desperately, not to look back at his dad, but ultimately fails. Harry is standing beside the rickety chair by the window with a slightly stunned expression on his face, looking at Albus almost as though he's seeing him for the first time. Quickly Albus looks away again. 

"A curious request," Mr Ollivander says. "Especially in light of recent circumstances. But perhaps a rather useful one. I may have one or two ideas." He disappears into the shelves, leaving Albus and Harry alone. 

Albus clenches his hands into fists and takes a deep breath as he glances back at his dad again. 

"You want to be able to duel?" Harry asks, voice a complicated wash of emotions that Albus can't begin to decipher.

He nods. "You always say... Constant vigilance. If something happens again I want to be able to defend myself. To be able to defend Scorpius. And... It was awful. Everything Delphi did was horrible, and the situation was awful and..." He fiddles with the front of his jacket for a moment, then takes a step forward. "But it felt good. Being able to help. I think I'd like to be able to help again. In the future. I-I like the idea of... Of protecting people. From the darkness." He shuffles his feet and looks down at the ground because he doesn't want to look at his dad's face. "It's probably stupid."

"No," Harry says quickly. "It's not. Not at all. I just... I didn't expect-" 

Mr Ollivander returns and Harry cuts himself off. For a moment Albus watches him, then he slowly turns back to the counter. 

"Which one should I try first?"

Last time Albus came here it took forever to find the right wand. He went through what felt like everything in the shop before found a match. 

This time it happens on the third try.

He takes hold of the wand and his fingers have barely wrapped around the handle when he feels something like a warm breeze rushing through his hair, and a gentle golden light radiates from the wand. His whole hand feels like he's holding it by a fire on a cold day, like it's gently thawing and filling with life, like before this moment it had been frigid and numb. 

His heart sings, and he grins up at Mr Ollivander. "I think this one likes me." 

"It would certainly seem so."

Albus inspects the wand. It's made of a beautiful, dark, heavily grained wood. Coils of bark run around it from handle to tip, and it's just a little crooked. It's sturdy, slightly longer and more flexible than his last wand, and it just feels nice in his hand. Like it's meant to be there. 

With a satisfied nod he places it gently on the counter. "What is it?" 

Mr Ollivander picks it up delicately and replaces it in its box. "Larch and Dragon Heart String, ten and three quarter inches, rather springy. I have always found larch to be somewhat unexpected. It can reveal hidden talents. And often those belonging to larch do not realise the full extent of their abilities until paired with it. This is a powerful wand." Mr Ollivander gives Albus a nod. "I think we can expect great things from you, Mr Potter."

Albus looks down at the box on the counter, and for the first time in his life he almost believes that Mr Ollivander might be right. 

"Thank you," he says. 

"It is always a pleasure. Although I rather hope not to see you again for some time."

Albus grins sheepishly. "I'll try and look after this one. I don't plan on having any more escapades." 

Harry pays for the wand and he and Albus depart into the street, walking in the direction of the cake shop. Whenever Albus glances up at Harry he sees his dad frowning slightly, and it floods Albus with a sense of worry that perhaps he's done the wrong thing here. 

If only his mum had come instead. She wouldn't have said anything. Or at least, if she'd had any thoughts about it she would have told him straight away. But his dad reacts to everything and he never says any of it, and there's no way of knowing if it's a good reaction or a bad one. What if he's angry again? Everything Albus does seems to make him angry somehow. 

They get their cakes, Harry a slab of ginger cake and Albus a Pepper Imp cupcake that he fully intends to rave about to Scorpius later, and find a seat. For a little while they pick at the food in silence, but finally Albus decides he can't stand it anymore. 

"Dad," he says, wiping his fingers on a napkin and looking warily across the table. "Is it okay? The wand? Is it a problem? Have I... I don't know, offended you?"

Harry looks across at him for the first time since they left Ollivanders and gives a slightly disbelieving little laugh. "No, of course not. Why would I be offended?"

Albus shrugs and looks down at the wooden table top. "I don't know. I never know what you're thinking..."

Harry's frown deepens. "This isn't offence. I promise you that. I'm just... Confused. Surprised? The way you talked about wanting to protect people... Where did that come from, Albus?"

Albus shrugs again and starts fiddling with the edge of his paper napkin, rolling it up and flattening it out again. "I don't know? I've been thinking about it I suppose. Ever since the maze, and Godric's Hollow... I hated feeling helpless."

Harry sets his fork down on the edge of his plate with a quiet chink, and studies Albus across the table. "You weren't helpless. Writing on the blanket? Crawling through the grate like that? You were incredible."

Albus sighs. "But I felt-" He puts the napkin aside and looks up at Harry, throwing caution to the winds. "I've seen the darkness in the world now, Dad, and I want to fight it."

"You want to be an Auror?" Harry asks, levelly, like he's suppressing something.

"Yes-" Albus says, "I mean no. I-I don't know. I haven't... Thought about that. Anyway, you're an Auror. That's what  _you_  do."

Harry nods. "It is. Is that a bad thing?" 

"I-I don't know..." Albus pulls a chunk out of his cupcake and munches on it, trying to think. After a few moments he swallows and takes a breath. "I've never thought about jobs or anything. I just meant..." He scratches behind his ear. "What happened to Craig. To Cedric... It shouldn't have. I want to stop it. I know I'm probably not good enough to be any help at all, but..." He looks up at his dad. "It's important, isn't it?"

Harry looks at him for a moment, then away. He picks his fork up and picks a few crumbs from the edge of his half eaten cake. "Of course it's important. It's people's lives. I've seen... Far too many people have died. For me. For us... What you're thinking about is really admirable, don't get me wrong, but. Sometimes you can't save people, Albus. And the more you try... You can't."

"I know," Albus says quietly, not looking up. "We couldn't save Cedric... But Dad... I-I don't know how to explain..."

They fall into silence. Harry takes his glasses off and cleans them, while Albus picks at his cupcake. Why is it so difficult? Talking about things? He can never get his dad to understand anything. It almost isn't worth trying.

"Albus," Harry says quietly after a moment, sliding his glasses back onto his face. Begrudgingly Albus looks up at him. "I hope you know you don't need to prove anything to me. That was what all of it was about, wasn't it? Saving Cedric, changing time? I-I know who you are. What you're capable of. We all saw that. And you were brilliant..." He exhales and meets Albus's eyes. "There's nothing for you to prove."

Albus tenses his jaw and looks away, nodding. "Of course. You think this is all about you." He clenches his fists under the table and feels anger and frustration rush up inside him that once again he's been misunderstood. "You know I can think about things for myself, Dad? Did that ever occur to you? That my entire life doesn't revolve around living up to your legacy? Because it doesn't. I already figured out I can never be a hero like you. That fact is painfully clear to me-"

"Albus," Harry says. Albus ignores him.

He looks up at his dad, trying to keep his voice low. They shouldn't yell at each other in a bakery, as much of a struggle as it is to resist. "This, this-" he gestures to the wand in the bag by his feet. "This is about me. I know it's a struggle to believe that your Slytherin son wants to do good in the world, but I do. I want to be able to defend myself, and my friends, and anyone else who needs it. I'm not trying to be like you. This just feels like something I can do, that I want to do, that I'd be good at. And there aren't many of those. So you can tell me until you're blue in the face that you don't want me to do this, but I don't care, okay? I'm done caring what you think." 

He pushes his chair back from the table, as far from his dad as he can get, and slumps down. He pulls the plate with the cupcake on towards him and busies himself eating the last few crumbs. There's no way he's leaving without finishing it, but this conversation is over, at least as far as Albus is concerned. Although apparently Harry has other ideas.

He leans forward in his seat and puts a hand on the table. The one with all the scars. Albus pointedly avoids looking at it. 

"I do think you should do this," he says quietly. "Albus I- I was trying to understand. If that came across badly... I know you want to do good things in the world, and I think you will. I know you will. And I..." He takes a breath. "I'm proud, that this is something you'd even consider doing. It isn't easy, I think we both know that, that when you're scared, when your friends are in danger, it feels horrible. And I'll admit, I'm not a fan of the idea of you being in harm's way... But I agree that-that you would be brilliant at this. Without you I would probably be dead, Voldemort would rule the world... You already are brilliant at this, and honestly... I can't wait to see where you end up, where you and that new wand of yours can go."

He undoes a couple of the buttons on his waistcoat and looks at Albus. "We were a good team in Godric's Hollow, we were, and I want you to know that there's no one I'd rather have fighting on my side than you. Okay?"

Albus brushes the crumbs off his fingers and stares at his plate, unsure what to say or what to feel. Guilt about yelling at his dad again, about jumping to conclusions again, frustration that he still doesn't seem to be able to make himself understood without shouting about it, but also a glow of happiness and pride that his dad, the famous Harry Potter, the greatest Auror of a generation, wants to fight alongside him... All sorts of things all washing up inside him. In the end he just sighs and shakes his head.

"I-I don't know what to say. I..." There's too much.

"You don't have to say anything," Harry says. 

Albus nods slowly, then glances up at his dad. "Thank you. For the cake. And for bringing me to get my wand. I-I  _am_  glad you came. And I didn't mean to get angry. I never mean to, it just- I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Harry says, looking across at him. "If I made you feel like I was questioning you. I wasn't. I just, this communication thing. It's tricky. I'm going to work on it." 

"Me too," Albus mumbles.

"And um, if you ever did, you know, want to be an Auror," Harry says hesitantly. "And I don't know if you do, and I'm not saying you should. But I-I think you'd be a really good one."

Albus blinks at him. There's nothing but complete honesty in his dad's eyes and it's almost too much to process. "O-okay. I'll think about it." He looks away and finishes eating his cupcake because it's easier than considering his dad's comment. 

When they set out this morning he'd thought nothing had changed since before Godric's Hollow, but maybe... Maybe it has. And maybe it can get better still. He certainly hopes so. It definitely isn't going to be easy, but the memory of fighting next to his dad, the knowledge that his dad wants them to be on the same side still, that seems like the sort of thing he'd be happy to struggle for. That's sort of what all of it was about in the first place.


End file.
